Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name (usually not your first and last name), your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

11-17-2012 07:36 AM

gearheadslife

if you're try'n to get more out of the truck. and it's a budget..
I'll save you some cash..
if you are not willing to change the valve springs (100-150.oo) when you change the cam..
save your money.. really, don't bother..
as the truck will slow as the valvetrain floats.. AND can bend a valve or if you are really rally lucky, drop a valve..
you're on a budget for a reason.. I get that..
but whats cheaper.. the valve springs or rebuilding the heads because the valves are now bent? and STILL having to replace the springs..
just because the engine was free.. DO YOU HAVE THE MEANS TO REPLACE IT, when you kill it? thats not what I'd call a budget build.. but it's your truck/engine
good luck

never enough time to do it right the first time ,but, always enough time to do it twice AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Years ago, used a compcam 268H with stock springs in a 454. Ran ok until 4500 rpm then the valve started to float due to weak springs

11-17-2012 01:30 AM

vinniekq2

I have about 11 in my 434 street engine,my 454 in my 80 Camaro had 2200,not counting the engine re build(came with the car).camaro ran high 11s
434 corvette not tested or set up for drags

11-17-2012 01:20 AM

idontdrivericeieatit

Yea I get the snow ball I have 9 grand in. A 406 and im building a 421 stroker and going be bout 12 grand there but reason I say change them is everything needs to match in the engine or you will have problems if cam to big for spring they will fail and it wont be pretty and a solid lift cam will not work with stock springs

11-17-2012 01:19 AM

vinniekq2

I highly recommend solid cams as a rule.most people here dont like the adjustments. A solid cam will need springs as the ramping is more aggressive.
396266 Z-66 2000-6000 .520 .020 268° 228° 108°
SOLID .520 .020 268° 228

I used the z-55 in an 80 z-28

11-17-2012 01:10 AM

abigassbowtie

now why not solid tappet ?

the reason i say I dont wanna change anything is because of the sno ball effect and i am really bad about it next thing i know it will be a 6k "budget motor"

11-17-2012 01:09 AM

idontdrivericeieatit

And as cheap as vavle springs are if you not going nothing crazy for a cam I would always change springs a few bucks for springs now. Better than a hole in piston and cracked heads latter

It can be done.The stock valve springs are fair and if you keep the lift moderate and dont use a cam with aggressive ramping you can get an improvement.
Yes Ive built budget engines. When we raced claimers, cheap was the only thing to do.
I would get used valve springs from guys running big cams,when they freshen the engine I would mix and match used after market springs. for small blocks,GM offered z-28 off road springs dirt cheap in the 70s,bought 8 sets. to get more rpm used those springs and just the centre from the retainers,
used after market cams and GM lifters

even stacked shims for low lift /long duration cams using stock ish springs.
Now days with all the good parts available and Im older,I use quality parts.

13s should be no problem for you,especially with a 454

11-17-2012 12:41 AM

abigassbowtie

whats the matter vinnie ? Have you never changed camshafts with out changing valve springs ? And yeah the truck has 4.11 gears !

its a budget build just for fun to see what the truck will do I got the motor for free so to be in it for a few hundred bucks and get it deep into the 13s would be awsome

11-17-2012 12:30 AM

vinniekq2

(I dont wanna change valve springs or anything just throw a cam in it )
wow?
4.11 gears and,,,, hope it goes well for you

going in a 3600 lbs truck th400 with a brake 3500 converter 4.11 gears I can put a stock converter back in it if thats better

thanks in advance

04-12-2009 12:55 AM

curtis73

Glad its working out for you. The opening ramps on the XE series are the next-to-most aggressive speed that Comp uses. Its a fast enough ramp speed to make really nice power without being concerned with accelerated lifter/lobe wear.

Those fast ramp speeds make a flatter and higher torque curve. I had an XE262 in a 468 I built for an old Impala Station wagon. Monster torque from just above idle to 4000. I ended up switching to an XE268 which was fine since I never really needed that much low-end for that car, but I missed the torque of the 262.

04-12-2009 12:16 AM

abigassbowtie

ok ok ok I gotta say the xe262 pulls really hard I have got it tuned and towed a couple things lately and I gotta say it is better than the 266 so curtis thank you very much for the advice and its been a little over 3 weeks and no flat cam yet the first cam I put in it was one I pulled out of another big block about 2 years ago and it sat on a shelf wrapped up in a towel and had some light surface rust on it and I cleaned it off with a dry sponge Im thinking the lifters just didnt like that and yes I did use the same lifters and put them back in the same holes they came out of when I pulled it I broke it in this time with non detergent oil and ran delo 15=40 after break in this is my daily driven rig so its nice not having to of worked on it in a while and get to work on more fun stuff

This thread has more than 15 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.